Ospreys team to play Newport Gwent Dragons

By Ospreys Rugby | 30/12/2012

The Ospreys team to play Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade on Monday 31st December, KO 16.15 is as follows:

15 Richard Fussell

14 Ross Jones

13 Tom Isaacs

12 Andrew Bishop

11 Eli Walker

10 Dan Biggar

9 Kahn Fotuali’i (Capt)

1 Ryan Bevington

2 Richard Hibbard

3 Adam Jones

4 Lloyd Peers

5 James King

6 Ryan Jones

7 Sam Lewis

8 Joe Bearman

REPLACEMENTS

16 Scott Baldwin

17 Duncan Jones

18 Cai Griffiths

19 Jonathan Thomas

20 Morgan Allen

21 Rhys Webb/Tom Habberfield

22 Matthew Morgan

23 Ashley Beck

The following players were not considered because of injury:

Justin Tipuric - Shoulder

Alun Wyn Jones – Shoulder

Hanno Dirksen – Knee

Joe Rees – Neck

Tom Smith – Groin

Aaron Jarvis – Knee

Owen Williams - Hamstring

Ian Evans – Knee

Tom Grabham - Hip

Forwards Coach, Jonathan Humphreys, said:

“This period of three games in nine days is crucial for us and having won the first game, against the Scarlets, it really is vital that we keep on working hard as a group, looking to improve and to find the performance level that will get us into the play-off spots before the PRO12 goes into a break for Europe and the LV.

“As a coaching group, yes we’ve got to be pleased with the win against the Scarlets, but there’s still room for improvement. We showed great effort and commitment, good discipline and we played the game plan well but there were areas of the performance where we could have done better. With the quick turnaround and the nature of Christmas rugby here’s not much time to prepare for this game but what time we have got will be used to ensure the boys are focused and know what is needed to raise the performance another level again.

“It’s another tough week, with a difficult game in Newport followed by another tricky one at the Liberty against Zebre on Friday night. We have to make sure that everyone understands how important these games are to our PRO12 hopes, that we need to put top-level performances in, and if we do that, then we have a chance of getting the results we need. Having really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Liberty on Boxing Day, I’d love it if we could get another good crowd on Friday night. It was obvious how much the boys responded to such great support and we want the fans to keep on playing their part.”